Right to Choose

Letter to your GP

Fill in the form below to generate a printable letter for your GP. The letter sets out your situation and the NHS hospital you would prefer to be referred to under your Right to Choose.

Step 1b · Your situation

Which best describes you? This changes what the letter asks your GP to do.

New referralMy GP hasn't referred me yet, or I'm about to be referred for the first time.I'm already on a waiting list (switching trust)I already have an NHS referral and want my GP's help to move it to a different trust.

Fill in your details

Your details are saved to this browser only and are never sent to our servers. When you print, we count the print and which of the two letters it is. If you come back more than 7 days after your last change, they are deleted instead of restored; on a shared computer, press “Clear saved details” when you have finished. Postcodes are looked up via postcodes.io.

About you

First name

Last name

Date of birth

Tap to pick from a calendar. Shown on the letter as e.g. 12 April 1958.

NHS number (optional)

10 digits — found on letters from the NHS or in the NHS App.

Your postcode

We use postcodes.io to verify — your postcode is not stored on our servers.

Address line 1

House number + street (e.g. 14 Acacia Avenue).

Address line 2

Town, city, or district.

About your GP

Don't know your GP's name? It's on any repeat prescription or in the NHS App under “Your health”. The surgery name is enough if you don't see a named GP.

GP's name (optional)

e.g. Dr Sarah Patel — leave blank if you don't have a named GP.

GP practice / surgery name

Type the exact name from your repeat prescription or the NHS App.

GP practice postcode

Optional — helps verify the surgery address.

Surgery address line 1 (optional)

Surgery address line 2 (optional)

Your browser will offer “Save as PDF” in the print dialog.

This is a template you can edit before printing. Your GP makes the clinical decision about your referral — this is not medical advice.

18 October 2026

[Your full name]

[Your address line 1]

[Your address line 2]

[Your postcode]

NHS number: [Your NHS number, if known]

[Your GP's name]

[Your GP surgery]

Re: Request for referral to SpaMedica Portsmouth for Ophthalmology Service under my NHS Right to Choose

Dear Dr [GP's name],

I am writing to formally request that my forthcoming first outpatient referral for Ophthalmology Service be made to SpaMedica Portsmouth (Portsmouth, PO6 4PR) under my NHS Right to Choose, as set out in the NHS Constitution and the Choice Framework.

The NHS Choice Framework says that, at the point of referral for consultant-led treatment, I can choose which provider I am referred to, from those that have an NHS contract to provide the service I need. I have chosen SpaMedica Portsmouth after researching publicly available NHS data on waiting times at HospitalWaits.co.uk, which shows SpaMedica Portsmouth provides Ophthalmology Service services.

I understand that you decide whether a referral is clinically appropriate, and that the right has some exceptions. If you think this referral would not be clinically appropriate, or that an exception applies, I would be grateful if you could explain why during my appointment so we can discuss alternatives.

For your reference, the NHS Choice Framework is published by the Department of Health and Social Care at www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework, NHS England's patient choice guidance is at www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/patient-choice-guidance/, and my choices are also described on the NHS website at www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/your-choices-in-the-nhs/.

Please confirm in writing (or via the NHS App message system) once the referral has been made.

Yours sincerely,

Signed: __________________________________

Dated: __________________________________

Print name: __________________________________

Disclaimer: this is a template letter, not legal advice. Right to Choose covers the first outpatient appointment for most elective conditions; some specialised pathways are excluded. See /right-to-choose for the full guide.

Letter to your GP

Fill in your details

Site

Disclaimers